2027 Jr. High Honor Band & Choir
Band & choir directors are invited to have your students participate in this year’s CMEA-Northern Section Junior High Honor Band and Choir. This year’s event will be held on January 22nd and 23rd, 2027, at CSU, Chico with conductors Mr. Spencer Hannibal Smith of University Nevada, Reno, and Dr. Melissa Mills of the Utah Youth Choir. You can read about them below.
CMEA-Northern Section Jr. High Honor Band & Choir Coordinators
Jane Brown - [email protected]
Mary Colligan - [email protected]
CMEA-Northern Section Jr. High Honor Band & Choir Coordinators
Jane Brown - [email protected]
Mary Colligan - [email protected]
2027 Jr. High Honor Band Director
Mr. Spencer Hannibal Smith
Spencer Hannibal-Smith serves as the Operations Manager and Staff Conductor for the University of Nevada, Reno Bands. He conducts the Nevada Concert Winds and provides logistics and teaching support to the Wolf Pack Marching Band, Howlers Pep Band, and the Nevada Wind Ensemble.
Spencer began his teaching career in Clovis, CA, where he served as the Assistant Director of Bands at the Reagan Educational Center from 2015 to 2018. He worked with a team of music educators to run a high school and middle school instrumental music program consisting of over 400 students. After three successful years in Clovis, Spencer relocated to Reno, NV, to pursue his M.M. degree in Wind Band Conducting with Dr. Reed Chamberlin. During his graduate studies, Spencer served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Wolf Pack Marching Band and worked part-time for a music publication company, GPG Music.
After completing his M.M. in 2020, Spencer assumed the role of Director of Business Operations for GPG Music. He managed daily operations, coordinated publication releases, oversaw marketing efforts, represented the company at conferences, and managed print production for the publication company. Spencer continued his involvement with the Wolf Pack Marching Band as a teacher and administrator throughout his time working for GPG Music.
Spencer has an extensive background in the marching arts. From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps tuba section. Following his age-out from DCI, Spencer was invited to join the SCV staff in 2017, where he served as a visual technician until 2021. He was also a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets brass staff in 2018 and 2019. Spencer has utilized his DCI performing and teaching experience to develop a technical and enriching approach to marching band education.
Spencer began his teaching career in Clovis, CA, where he served as the Assistant Director of Bands at the Reagan Educational Center from 2015 to 2018. He worked with a team of music educators to run a high school and middle school instrumental music program consisting of over 400 students. After three successful years in Clovis, Spencer relocated to Reno, NV, to pursue his M.M. degree in Wind Band Conducting with Dr. Reed Chamberlin. During his graduate studies, Spencer served as a Graduate Teaching Assistant for the Wolf Pack Marching Band and worked part-time for a music publication company, GPG Music.
After completing his M.M. in 2020, Spencer assumed the role of Director of Business Operations for GPG Music. He managed daily operations, coordinated publication releases, oversaw marketing efforts, represented the company at conferences, and managed print production for the publication company. Spencer continued his involvement with the Wolf Pack Marching Band as a teacher and administrator throughout his time working for GPG Music.
Spencer has an extensive background in the marching arts. From 2012 to 2015, he was a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Drum and Bugle Corps tuba section. Following his age-out from DCI, Spencer was invited to join the SCV staff in 2017, where he served as a visual technician until 2021. He was also a member of the Santa Clara Vanguard Cadets brass staff in 2018 and 2019. Spencer has utilized his DCI performing and teaching experience to develop a technical and enriching approach to marching band education.
2027 Jr. High Honor Choir Director
Dr. Melissa Mills
Melissa Mills, Ph.D., is a music educator, conductor, author, composer, and clinician whose career has spanned K–12, university, community, and private music education. She holds a Ph.D. in Music Education with a cognate in Choral Conducting from Michigan State University, an M.M. in Music Education/Choral Conducting from Brigham Young University, and a B.Mus. in Music Education from the University of Utah.
Dr. Mills served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she taught courses in choral methods, classroom vocal pedagogy, secondary music methods, and music teacher preparation. She has also taught at Michigan State University, Utah Valley University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Earlier in her career, she served as assistant conductor of the BYU Women’s Chorus, Concert Choir, and Chorale and as conductor of the Michigan State University Children’s Choir Preparatory Choir. Her work as a conductor and educator has encompassed children’s, youth, collegiate, secondary-school, church, and community ensembles.
An active scholar in choral music education, Dr. Mills is the author of the two-volume Working with Young Singers: Educational Philosophies of Expert Children’s Choir Conductors, published by GIA Publications. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, and other scholarly publications, and she has presented her work at state, national, and international conferences. Her research and teaching interests include musical identity, expressive performance, children’s and adolescent choral singing, musicianship, and the ways thoughtful pedagogy can help singers develop as independent musicians.
Dr. Mills is the founder and artistic director of the Utah Youth Singers and Bel Canto Women’s Chorus and has served extensively as a clinician and adjudicator for choral festivals, assessments, and competitions. She is also an award-winning composer: her work Singing, for treble choir, organ, and trumpet, received first place in the Utah American Choral Directors Association Composition Competition and was premiered by the BYU Women’s Chorus at the ACDA Utah Choral Convention.
In addition to her conducting, teaching, and scholarly work, Dr. Mills is the founder, publisher, and artistic director of Blue Pearl Music Publishing and founder and editor of Score Doctor, through which she works with composers and publishers in music engraving, editing, and score preparation. Across these varied roles, her work is united by a central interest: helping musicians develop artistry, independence, and a strong sense of themselves as musicians.
Dr. Mills served as Visiting Assistant Professor of Music Education at the University of Maryland, College Park, where she taught courses in choral methods, classroom vocal pedagogy, secondary music methods, and music teacher preparation. She has also taught at Michigan State University, Utah Valley University, and the University of Maryland Baltimore County. Earlier in her career, she served as assistant conductor of the BYU Women’s Chorus, Concert Choir, and Chorale and as conductor of the Michigan State University Children’s Choir Preparatory Choir. Her work as a conductor and educator has encompassed children’s, youth, collegiate, secondary-school, church, and community ensembles.
An active scholar in choral music education, Dr. Mills is the author of the two-volume Working with Young Singers: Educational Philosophies of Expert Children’s Choir Conductors, published by GIA Publications. Her research has appeared in the Journal of Research in Music Education, Bulletin of the Council for Research in Music Education, Music Educators Journal, and other scholarly publications, and she has presented her work at state, national, and international conferences. Her research and teaching interests include musical identity, expressive performance, children’s and adolescent choral singing, musicianship, and the ways thoughtful pedagogy can help singers develop as independent musicians.
Dr. Mills is the founder and artistic director of the Utah Youth Singers and Bel Canto Women’s Chorus and has served extensively as a clinician and adjudicator for choral festivals, assessments, and competitions. She is also an award-winning composer: her work Singing, for treble choir, organ, and trumpet, received first place in the Utah American Choral Directors Association Composition Competition and was premiered by the BYU Women’s Chorus at the ACDA Utah Choral Convention.
In addition to her conducting, teaching, and scholarly work, Dr. Mills is the founder, publisher, and artistic director of Blue Pearl Music Publishing and founder and editor of Score Doctor, through which she works with composers and publishers in music engraving, editing, and score preparation. Across these varied roles, her work is united by a central interest: helping musicians develop artistry, independence, and a strong sense of themselves as musicians.